LOCAL AND GENERAL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXIX, Issue 79, 23 May 1911, Page 4

LOCAL AND GENERAL.

oincli inter--;; was taken n I'm movements, of a cm.V in Dig-on S'li’e t rof-eci :y. ‘••.ays (be “.News,” ’iao'ihpnud .’in:ls' ; I den n the oektro : ef toe road abaci- 7 h nV. from i'.inytib'f wtiMet’ to Brrnehpn v t; r.-; ; f, aiiro vridihrirCyi"! by tm 'teafne Cntl’brilli.Vift lifißhimiI ion s’,' and evidently oblivious of (no ia'-t uia.t t.’iicro is :-dic-.V ;i'peiL'ihago os' a L-arim'"'i i:m;viLt j:o ,

i.i n ■ ,r.fr mi: ! y"l di. ">l .tlghc i Fish -• re.-i p.iciK>..:<-n;.tG .-.',-a.rce and (I-,-.-.. r.i ;;!l v:;‘• gear <“u'- !>!<■; the last few days. and prices anon the nji grade. Both 1 roi'.i cliingtoii ami Napier, as well as iron*. Foxton and Faraparannm, conic • reports «1 ao li-m. Not tony ago a - quest was soil; wem: N timer to mei-ston to- send conic iisli il any c.-vuld l>o procured. Wanganui gets most of its supplies through Bahnci si.;:’. SiJitili Tmanaki motorists •arc discovered a new pastime. ! nay :'m up hares on. tho main ran us and cour.-, them for miles. One man, si in ‘ Minaia paper affirms, pui up 10 hss llm.t eight tire other night 0:1 the i0.u.1 fietween llavrcra amt Mamtia, v. iitlsh another motorist coursed one tor miles, and then, ■ in the words of the paper, “tiie ear railed up it s reserve td and gave the Imre its quietus: ’ Dr. Barrraft, of Ha sting!.!, wad an unpleasant expci ienec during the i - cent rough weather. Ho was called out io Mr. A. A. Sum IIV., Ok ban, and engaged a trap. After crossing the hill there is a slight clip in the road, ar.d the water war no to tho horse’s necks. Negotiating this safely,, he came to a small crock whirl) the rain had swollen into, an impassable torrent. Ho shouted Ids advice across the river to .Mr. Small, and then turned hack on his hnmcwaul jmun oy. Lawyer CJcorgo Toogoaci (says the “Free Lance”) was just closing an impassioned harangue on behalf of a suffering client in the Police Court. He perorated so nobly and eloquently, and finished with, such a glowing period, that lie didn't notice his chair wasn’t in the right place, ami when lie sat down he smote the floor rather cruelly and hard. And Dr. McAr-i thin- leaned over the hcucii and enquired in tones full and soft, “1 presume Mr. Toogood, that closes your care f” Mr Henry Punster Laker, American Viee-Consul-Gencral on special service in New Zealand, arrived in Mew Plymouth on Friday. On Saturday 1m was taken out to the oil weils at, Moturoa by the directors of the Taranaki Oil Company, and showed keen interest In the work done iml tho results attained. Ho also visited several dairy factories in the district. His visit to New Zo<dand...i.-?..‘for the express pur nose of obtaining - reliable' oflieiai information as to the productions and passible trade of tho *.oanti y. To show how concessions -may he abused, xhc -Minister for Hallways recently mentioned at Dunedin some little trouble J;c ims bad with fruitgrowers. A very substantial privilege was granted them in tho matter of 1 free I'ailieg of timber for fruit eases. The Minister found, however, that .in many cases they persisted in railing this timber some hundreds, of miles, passing a timber mill at their veiy doors, : imply because they could purchase a shade cheaper at the more distant mi!!. He put, a stop to that. He said, the fruitgrowers want to go hack to the old order of tilings. He emphatically said “Mo,” believing tiiat every article should pay at least a nominal rate. Fat stock arc getting fewer day oy day. A dealer who is about the district a good deal, told 0 Palmerston “Standard” re porter that owners or far- cut tie wiil not (junto prices, and ‘undertake to bold tno stock for any fixed ikwind. “Beef is sure to advance towards the spring,” ho- stud, “but- if We c.-cape frosts and the feed keeps up, prices may not mb; exceptionally high, though 1 am inclined to think they will, ’ihc simple explanation is that the stock arc not in the country, and that the existing: •supplies are getting reduced week oy weyk. Dairying, of course, is in imports, at factor in the problem, as, had that Industry developed to a less extent, more attention would have been devoted to cattle raising. ’ •Mr Mr.bloton, the IriJi Home .Rule delegate, told a good poultry story at tiie Homo Hide meeting at Tara dale On Monday. An old country woman wont to tho market with a basketful of eggs, for which the grocer, to whom she took thorn, offered Pd per dozen. which was below the usual prise, saying that ‘the grocers bad had a meeting and had decided that they could not afford to give Pd per cloven for eggs. Well, said ihc old woman, if 1 can’t got any more anywehere else. ! suppose 1 will have to take it. On

the next !market (lay the old v.oimui again annoared at- the grocer's with her basket. which, on being opened, was found to be filled with eggs, none of which, however, was larger than a bantam's: egg. Asked the reason far diminution in sine, the old ladv slily replied, “Sure ths'Jions have .had a meeting and decided that they cannot lay larger eggs than these for 9d per deceit.” A b-orough comuillor. on viewing a picture at the Opera House the other evening, remarked that dogs were wonderfully intelligent, says t!io Palmerston “Standard.” His opinion was strengthened hy an incident in the S:;narc that morning:. A massive canine, trotting along the footpath, noticed a substantial log of mutton in a batchers shop. When the shopman’s hack was turned it seined the moat and raced for .Main Street, probably to avoid tin' police. The shopman noticed the theft as the dog left the premises, and quickly gave chase, lb was an exciting speed contest between the dog and the hutchcr. with odds in favour of the dog, out tinlatter was suddenly handicapped by an unsympathetic roadman, who struck the canine with a shovel as il sprinted past, quickly altering Dm aspect of affairs. As the dog- r-. 1, d the butcher spurted up in great stylo, and, seising the log of mutton, bote il bacl: to his shoo in triumph, yhiie the pnrioimv slunk away to ponder ov, r mar’s inhumanity to dogs. The now .Wayor of Auckland (.Mr. d. I 1 ;:;-;-; strongly condemns I he use 1 hai i - being made of a largo number of volcanic bills and -.nonius, Die most atlrac-iivo feature in Auckland's, lamb-capo. Me aavs : “Do the public rcali'-c ih-tt nearly all these haautilid lau.dmarks are being rapidly carted away for road metal? The tP.verumen: i.-.-h js one of tin- elder si:iI'crs. .'.) amt Albert, one of tin' <i»-i-d ei Auckland's ;- -m tiuehi, is being gadud in co for scan; for the (.'overtime:! i railwav,-.. cud in ;; lew vgn, no-r-m g.; u ii 1 !,; j>i t hut a horriid - ho!-m 'lee -mice >:r of la >a. -t I a hie c -.ub'dimu i;;_ proceeding a,! Mount Wet-bo-iniy ol .Moicit hi hut has been con-..id'-rably ntarrrrl la; the same so: t of public i'ccbcrv. Menvuihcr, we cauuot r-p-'.ico these p-'ctiuesgno o:niron ccf once 1 n«v are yoi'c. Sm ,-lv road :nm| dcui-Ciiag Xainreg; r. o-1 beautiful handiwork! Vvlm.t is wanted, am' wanted in n ■ for rhe md nvha thau l if i. ■ immediately nut a "top I - 'hi : ;.i |!f.,f| of \m ; i.! tod’s natural ‘■V l 'i.,-\ -'-nts. ■ am! ■-•liaii aKudirect. ; y’ jjr mar •-!•■ i -’•mi the • fi'rtijV; ■ ar'tdiiimen!! :,f Aui ; ; m iJ ■ irift 'city;” ', ■ 1 ’’ ■"

,in , • : !i- :: in; a whi! ■ a - srfen:r f id ; f.r c ci i ’! d» Was ~ ; (i d ;> • me I:;- drove ; ! ..abb khlml ~:H that 1 uni l .t !>e ilyii.'g over tm; g: .mm!. '! :: ei.a. n Hr- ke’.s day i ,uive, went :«*!.• .xt'.a; - tn ■ i tin;• morning, and (ir ive a hall which hilled a tunning bare. Tl.: 1 u.t twelve mrntia: have been a. irauMour, time for tlio retail butc.liin Am tv I iTi-J. '1 lie season Is afire.r. d to he the worst for twenty-five w ere, six butcher.; having been com- ■ died c i ■= •> down during the last thvc« mor.i!!?. The president of tho 'tick!::ml M.aster Butchers’ Assneiatioii thinks 100 price of meat will he. Jam- than for many years past. tip ;o the present, between fifty and sixty barmaids in the Christchurch di-inct have applied for registration under tho amendment to the Licensing Act, passed last session. The local officers of 'the Labour Department are engaged in verifying tho statements made by tho applicants as to their peti lof service dining tho year precedin'-; the passing of the Act. It is -. xjerted that at least- twenty more applications for registration will he matte in the Chi Istchurch district. Toe time for applications expires on June Ist. A new set of envineiators has been lifted in the Stratford Telephone. Exchange, and is now in good working order. An immediate benefit to subscribers i.. that instead of having to ring twice. Lie exchange will nog the party asked lor. Provision is made on tiie nev, boards for the installation later on of a complete metallic return wire to cacn subscriber, instead of using “cattlm” a;; at nresent. The steady progress of Stratford has convinced tho Department that in a short time it wiil ho necessary to have metallic returns. Tho me bailie return r,nihlies to a gtcat extent tiie annoyance caused by electric light and telegraph ires coming in too close contact with telephone wires. Magistrate Fitxhcrbftt and Lawyers Gow and Spence were forcibly reminded on 'i tiursday hist of tho necessity of a railway from the Mow Plymouth line to Opiinako, says the “Opiumlie Times.” Tho day was very wet and boisterous when they left Eitiiam by motor for Opnnako, and 'after meeting with half-a-dozen mishaps, arrived at Opnnako half an hour later than usual, and wet through. The legal gentlemen had to set about looking for changes, and when formally’ enclosed in dry attire had the appearance of one of poet Hairy Lawson’s characters, “with baggy pants,” which were very acceptable whilst tho others wore drying over a chair in tho official’s room. An alarm of fire was given last Tuesday evening, the cause being of an extraordinary nature, says the Gisborne ’ “Herald.” It appears that a leak had occurred in the petrol tank of Dr. Reeve’s motor-car. The car was brought outside the shed adjoining the doctor’s residence on Kniti, and inter ligations with - a lantern were instituted. By some unaccountable means the petrol became ignited, and there was a- huge dare. Before tho (lames could be smothered with earth the Hare was observed from town, nith Lie result that tho firebell was rung. The incident was quickly over, and before the lira brigade reached Kaiti bridge there was no sign of fire The car did not suffer very great damage. it in stated on most reliable authority (report:; the Bluntly correspondent of the Auckland “Herald”) that Wel-'[-hunts, ay-m ahout, .to make a big bid for the trade of tho Waikato, and that overtures have been made tn at least one of the owners of steamers that do the carrying trade on the river. Instead of erecting a wharf and tiie necessary storage •accommodation at the Waikato Heads, the proposal is to station a large hulk there, and thence distribute ■ supplies to the various places between tlio Heads and Cambridge (on tiie Waikato) and Pirongia (on the Wqipa), water carriage being employed to convoy merchandise and other commodities from Wellington. Local merchants have long complained of the high freights ruling, and tho scheme lias in it tiie elements of success. Oiiicials at the Money Order Office, La.mbion On ay. looked with suspicion., upon the signature upon a certain receipt form, which was handed to them hist i iinrsday by a young man who wished to draw money from the Post Office Savings Bank, says the “Dominion.’.’ Tiie applicant then took a fresh form and wrote the name again, rad (so it is alleged) yet again, but still the olfici.als had their doubts, and ultimately the young man went away without the money. A day or two later another man came with tiie same bank-book, anti this time there was no difficulty as to tiie bona ficles of the depositor. He appeared surprised when the officials told him about the oilier caller, and lie afterwards repeated their story tn tiie police. The result war. that Detectives Lewis and Andrews arrested on Saturday a young man o.ty a charge of forgery. When Mr. A. S. Malcolm, MVP., inaugurated his Imperial Federation campaign at Ualclutlm in .January, -I Mr. At. Cohen, editor of the “Dunedin Star,” who was present, emphasised tin- value of endeavouring to •'•ring about a goad understand imr hctncen (1 mat Britain and Germany. IBs remarks on thaj.,occasion have evidently Imind tin i; way to Germany; as they nave formed tlie- sub,l c; t of favourable comment in the German press. For instance, tho “Cologne C:;/.cit’,” one of tho most in-Uii'-utiai journal:-, in southern Germany. in itst issue of March 27th, remarked editorially: “.Such oversea ex'MVssmus as .'dr. Cohen lised especially deserve our thanks, because thoir telr/ra.im on r.caurroncos in Germany idwip s i’.nVri'pre. ent thing’s. Tho Coronation wiil .bring enormous crowds of c< initials to England, it is to bo wished tb.-it a right large number of them y ill Jake the opportunity to spend a Aw (lavs in Germany before returning to thdr homos.” A t->v;v:;p.indent of the “Opnnako Timer.” dis-p.printed in a display of hockey, writes:- !. “Truthful Joe,”, ou the Fftii day of May, in the year of on- 1.1;)! I, did as-seaible on the O’ve.c R• crc,.vi;m Ground to witm'.N Imd-.cy match- -tho first for mV e :■•'■(; ic. Sides wore taken and nbiv commenced. I‘Vv," —very lew—•Li f..; b, ■••; the oth.crs (the many) jd.ivcd r , i--.. . Cocoa, and Clticoa. !:•..• ... : i . -,,i. net of hockey, but ;•:.•!<< - v.it>';;-. was cousistont; i 1,.. i.ll r two showed the host com!,*•>•_l •mn {. . jv.rs and body, and ; ou’- .-.co-ert m.-i'-levcd were marks i',; a ! x’v. Bii’.’ nod Bang- played | i ■ !.. :■ ; ■ - ! a-; bi- mkie. whilst pug- »•;»< ;ru-. • ;)-• "• gdven for infringe- i mert-e Had T'cmu'V and Polity Spirit ;v :ie, . iv.i vhreughoui the • vur.-- red -.’-mdd h-wa reared froque.’.'tlv hr.t for hard luck, and harder I--uv ks. V.d!: retd Ga-ebags made tho most ci i,"';.- vime in me I allowing Tip. j\ i> !.{pj »,i’;i;i has l.oou played many , -,;•; ■ ; <1 ,’V 1- dis-’d.’V—well, l.illg i; i> fq of ojxl V"UUej! fIT.XI {! fish 111:1!- , -nd Ihm wi.-l give u« a letter cxhlMti.m. V.’lir-u lime was up dicers ..•ere •••;.- -:i. hut whether it was For hoci.-.o nr intee.ded p!:iv. or a, r/.rlo •'■■> me di- t lav 'v< li, the p!ay" v s t.Di |c ’ -. !> vause i. “TVnHilrl in".” am! the et’x’r i i.'cctal U s .did not

The Chamber of Commerce will . moot this evening. The Postmaster, IVIr. S. G. Star.ton, is at present on holiday leave, and Mr. J. Laurenson is carrying out Jus duties. At a. special meeting of the Bom gh Cotmeil last night the annual balancesheer, which had been returned fam th. j Controller-General, yas (••i.i'l.u led. The Otangiwai correspondent of the “Olmra Advocate” writes is follows:—Strangers are wise d they view' Otangiwai during daylight, as settlors have a habit of wandering during the nights with guns, and unknown cattle-duffers might get shot. 1 once came through *n' the smell Jlours and was hailed by a farmer to know if I had seen any driving sheep' 1 I had not, and I nave made up o>; mind that 1 never wdl. Son ctimes they arrange their troubles rml Agbt it out at the Matiero sale; other times they square it at bone. The people of Hard soy Island, where a minister lately resident in Blackburn has now undertaken the dutifss of pastor and schoolmaster, are hospitable folk, and a stranger is “taken in” in the Biblical sense and royally' treated should he happen to take their fancy. They have (or at least the fathers of the present generation had) a ?uaint way of getting their own back rom the other sort. The visitor was rowed to the mainland, when he saw fit to leave, with nil courtsey, and before landing the bill was presented. There is a legend of somebody' who travelled a long way to Bardsey to collect an old tithe account. He was hospitably received, and when he exk plained his mission his bill of £1.155. w'as paid without demur. Later lie asked to be rowed back, and was politely told that the charge was £1 15s. There was issed on the 27th March a provisional abstract of the numbers of births, marriages, and deaths registered throughout England and Wales during last year. From this it appears that. the natural increase in the population during the year was 413,779, there having been registered 897,100 births as against 483.321 deaths. The births of male children exceeded those of female children by 17,964, whilst the deaths of male persons outnumbered those of females by 14,985, there thus remaining a net gain in numerical strength to the male population of 2979. For Wales alone the figures show a natural increase of 33,922 in the population. In this case also the male births outnumber the female births by 1375, but as the deaths of males outnumber those of females by 1887 the numerical strength of the male population of Wales shows a decrease of 514. A woman in man's clothing was charged at the Raddiffe Police Court recently with stealing the clothing she was wearing from a house at which she had obtained temporary' lodgings. She wept throughout the proceedings. She was described as Martha A. Hodgson, aged 26, of 39, Clarendon Street, Bolton. It was stated that she was already dressed as a man when she wont to the house, and completely deceived the family. To the magistrates she said she came out of prison on January 19 and wnt home to Bolton, but her brother declined to take her back. She had since rambled about. “I must have been mad, gone out of my senses,” she added. She was sent for trial to Quarter Sessions. In the afternoon she was taken to Bury and charged before the magistrates there with stealing clothing and jewellery, valued at £3, under similar circumstances, and was committed to Quarter Sessions on this charge also.

Readers of “An Enemy of the People,” which is being placed at the Gaiety Theatre, will be interested in the case of Dr. Richard Franz. Dr. Franz was a Dr. Stockmann in real life. He was district medical officer of the market town of Riedan, in , Upper Austria. Last summer he notified the local authorities of a case of typhoid fever in the school-house. Military manoeuvres were being carried on in the district at the time, and a large body of troops were quartered in the town. Dr. Franz imformed the military authorities, and the manoeuvres were stopped. The townspeople, disappointed of the custom or the soldiers, began a systematic boycott of Dr. Franz. Shopkeepers refused to sell him anything, and he was overwhelmed with abusive leti ters and threatened with violence.

The local sanitary authority dismissed . him from his post, but he appealed 'to the Government, and they cancelled the dismissal and dissolved the sanitary authority. Nevertheless the boycott continued, and as a result of the persecution Dr. Franza died two months ago of heart failure brought on by worry. According to the “British Medical Journal” the sanitary dstrict has been ordered by the Government to pay the full pension that would have been duo to Dr. Franz. The medical profession in Austria has made provision for his family.

It seems at first sight rather an astonshing law that California has fassed forbidding aliens to own laud, t may help to explain it to know that over half the population are aliens or the children of alien parents. The object of driving them into the national fold is not purely sentimental. When they do not get naturalised they have no votes, take no interest in public affairs and politics, and tend to form national societies. America, quite naturally, expects them to become Americans. After the Irish, the English in America are said to become naturalised most readily. Still, there are ouito a number of Englishmen in California whose exuberant patriotism keeps them from naturalising themselves even when they have been settled residents there for the greater part of a lifetime. A young Englishman who could remember no home but the Californian town to which lie had been brought in infancy, and where he had lived all his life, once came into the public library at the British Columbian town of New Westminster, not far from the Californian border. He explained that someone had told him that the library had a copy of Queen Victoria’s “Journal of our Life in the Highlands,” with the Queen’s autograph in it. She had sent it out to the library many years before. Of course he was allowed to see it, but the librarian was It Very much taken aback when the , voung man seized the book from bis liands, dropped on one knee, and kissed three or four times with religious fervour the “Victoria R.” on the flyleaf. “It is glorious,” he said, i' “to touch with my lips the handwriting of her who is the greatest human being on earth.” As the nearest bit of British territory British Columbia seems to be a place of pilgrimage for Californian English patriots. On another occasion two young Englishmen who had been brought up. in Southern California could not remember ever having soon snow. They formed the patriotic notion that the first snow they saw should bo British snow, and as the mountains of British Columbia are well provided in this respect they went thither. This sort of thing is much more characteristic of the American temperament than the home-bred English, and the young men were really much more Americanised than they know. Peppermint Cure. Never fails. Is For Influenza take Woods’ Great 0(1, 2a Oil. 1 *

Tukapa second juniors having forfeited to the Stratfmd team, there will I)C no third grade match on Thursday next, as advertised. Within an hour and a half of the alarm being given for the school fire, Mr J. McAllister, photographer, had an enlarged photograph of the fire in his shop window. A “bottlo-oh” man called ;tt a resident’s house the other day, and being shown a number of’bottles in the washhouse offered a cash price for them which Was accepted. The housewife went inside, but later on she found that she had made a bad bargain, as the bottle dealer to. increase ins haul, had emptied a bottle of kerosene and a bottle of turpentine on the ground. In the New Plymouth Magistrate’s Court yesterday' morning, before Mr H. S. Fitzbcrbert, S.M., Henry Fynes Callaghan was charged with drunkenness and breach of his prohibition order. Sergt. Dart prosecuted, and asked for a substantial penalty, as the accused seemed not to benefit from the warnings accompanied by lenient treatment of the Bench. Mr. Grey, for the accused, entered a plea for the infliction of a fine, rather than that the accused should he committed to an inebriates’ homo or to prison. To have the man placed in confinement, counsel explained, would entail suffering on the part of the wife and family, who were at this time peculiarly in need of the parental presence and support. The Magistrate, addressing the accused, referred to his previous warnings and threats to have him placed under restraint unless he mended his ways, fact that accused had a wife and but, taking into consideration the family dependent upon him, and the particular circumstance quoted bycounsel, lie would deal leniently. A fine of 20s and costs was imposed.